Joshua
by Jatoza
Summary: This is my first fic. Please Read/Review. A lone runner is attacked by a Renraku strike team.


Max Carithers Start: 3/31/02  
  
ShadowRun Story-Ganger  
  
He knew this day was going to be different even before he hit the mean streets of Renton. The whole morning seemed strange; it was all the little things. There was no milk in his refrigerator. He didn't mind too much, but it was a little unusual. Then his car took a while to start. This really bugged him. He was known throughout the slums as having the toughest car on the block. It was a brand new GMC-MPUV with tons of legal, and some illegal accessories. One of the most distinguished was the light APC armor. When the car wouldn't start he knew immediately that something was wrong. He spent most of his free time working on that beauty. There was no way that it could be acting up on him now. After several minutes of work he found the problem. One of the spark plugs was loose. He didn't remember doing anything with the engine the day before. Of course, he didn't remember anything last night. One of his chummers had thrown a party. After the impromptu maintenance he drove off in the direction of Mike's Hardware and supplies. He was finally going to get that nice machine gun he wanted. It was a thing of beauty. An Aries HV LMG, with a folding tripod, an integral Smart gun II system, and the coolest paint job he had ever seen. It was beautiful. And old Iron Mike himself had decided to throw in three super flash grenades with the gun, just because he, Joshua, was a frequent customer. He had been driving for about ten minutes and was just about to hit the freeway when the bullet hit him. He felt the familiar burning sensation in his leg, and the ensuing pain that always came with an armor piercing round. He slowed down and made a sharp right turn-narrowly missing a truck, hoping that whoever was shooting at him would keep going, or lose him in traffic. His hopes were shattered as he heard another dozen or so rounds hit the car. By now the engine was smoking and it was becoming more and more difficult to control the speeding vehicle. He kept driving in an attempt to shake his pursuers, only now he hoped that his car would not go up in flames as he was driving. Joshua noticed that the scenery around him had changed. There were more buildings, and fewer piles of rubble. There were stores, and houses, and children running around in the streets. He knew that he would have to stop the car soon. He was a runner, but he wasn't completely without morals. He didn't want to hit a kid. Corporate security forces were one thing, but innocent bystanders? They were quite another. He kept driving, looking for a place to stop, and make his stand. He tried to ignore the steady sound of bullets hitting his beautiful SUV, and the pain of yet another bullet ripping into his midsection. He saw what he was looking for, about two blocks ahead. It was an abandoned hardware store with a big gaping hole where there used to be a window. With a quick glance into the back seat to make sure that his assault rifle was still there, he slammed on the brakes, and grabbed the gun. It was time for the fun to start. He quickly opened the door and ran for the window. No sooner than he had opened the door had the bullets started to hit the vehicle in earnest. They weren't sporadic bursts, but steady streams of hot destructive lead. Joshua would never know how he made it to the building without getting hit again, but that didn't matter anymore. He jumped through the window and rolled when he hit the floor. He came up in a crouch and swung around to fire through the opening in the wall. It didn't take him long to realize who his opponents were. The trademark Renraku red was a dead giveaway. He hoisted the rifle and prepared for one hell of a firefight. He squeezed the trigger again and again. The Renraku Death Squad troopers fell, but more and more kept pulling up in security vans. He couldn't even count the number of bullets he spent, loading clip after clip into his gun, but they kept coming. The troopers were starting to gain ground. They were using the abandoned cars in the street for cover, and were steadily moving closer to Joshua. The bullets that they fired kept on moving closer and closer towards the runner. Until one stray bullet hit him square in the chest. Joshua toppled over the small section of, now bullet riddled, brick and fell into the street. His head was numb with pain and he barely registered the fact that the Renraku troops were moving ever closer. He looked at all of the spent bullet casings on the curb near him. There was no way he was going to get out of this. They were going to take him and use him for experiments. Another idea raced through his mind. I could shoot at them, and get myself killed. He thought. At least he would be ending the game on his own terms. He steadied his resolve, and reached for his pistol in his hip holster. He drew the weapon. His father had given him this gun. He thought it funny that the very tool that had turned him on to the idea of running, was going to be the last thing that he would use against a corp. He laughed silently, and with all his might hoisted himself from the ground and turned toward the advancing death squad. There were five of them, barely ten meters away. He started running, using their shock to his advantage. He fired again and again, and before he knew it, they were all dead. Five steps. Five shots. Five kills. He kept running, and noticed that one of them had taken it in the back. Not so tough when they ain't calling the shots, eh? A small smile found its way onto his face. It was soon gone. Yet another security van pulled up to the abandoned store. More troopers poured out, and Joshua tried to get them all, but there were too many of them, and he was out of ammo. He pulled his knife and ran at the vehicle. But he ran through a hail of hot destructive lead, and collapsed onto his knees. He looked up, and he could see the cold smile on one of the troopers' faces. He raised the knife, and the last thing he saw, before he swung downwards was the look of astonishment on the corp. man's face, before it all faded into blackness. 


End file.
